An ambitious homage to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Brubury Tales (Illustrated Edition) takes Chaucer's story and frame to Los Angeles just after the riots in 1992, where seven security guards on the graveyard shift swap tales in an impromptu storytelling competition for Christmas vacation time. Written entirely in rhyming verse, the tales themselves are poetic updates of classic stories by Dostoevsky, Dickens, Boccaccio, O Henry, Poe, Twain, Gilman, Crane, Saki, Anderson, Bierce, and even Khayyam's Rubaiyat. Along with 11 original illustrations by Keith Draws, the book also contains a special foreword by California literary legend, Carolyn See, book reviewer for The Washington Postand bestselling author of Handyman and There Will Never Be Another You.

The Brubury Tales [by Frank Mundo] is a landmark book, in what is going to be -- and already is -- an exceptional, distinguished literary career. --Carolyn See

Mundo's skill is astounding and has a natural cadence. These stories are intriguing and compellingly human, and soon enough the reading becomes listening. -Sacramento Book Review

With inspiration from many literary classics and plenty of original spin, The Brubury Tales is a fine collection and not one to be missed. --Midwest Book Review

The Brubury Tales is a brilliant blend of writing, combining the style of Chaucer while putting a new slant on the short stories of the classical writers. --Reader Views

A unique and powerful new book, The Brubury Tales draws upon Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and classic stories by Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens, to name a few. Frank Mundo takes risks with his writing, which is sensitive, thoughtful, and gritty. --LA Books Examiner

"The Brubury Tales by Frank Mundo is a bold homage to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Mundo defamiliarizes the tale by placing it in Los Angeles in 1992 shortly after the Riots. His authentic L.A. childhood experiences came out in his verse..." --Mike Sonksen for KCET.org

The Brubury Tales (Reader Views 2011 Reviewers Choice Award for Poetry Book of the Year and the
2011 Bookhitch Award for the Most Innovative Book of Poetry of the Year) is a modern version of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales in LA just after the riots. 7 graveyard-shift rent-a-cops swap tales in a funny competition for vacation time. There are 13 tales (all based on classic stories) told in accessible verse (8,000+ lines of poetry fun) as... each guard tries to outdo the last with his or her tale. Book's foreword is written by bestselling LA author and literary critic Carolyn See). 5-stars from Midwest Book Review, it's available on Amazon in paperback and in eBook.
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Praise and Reviews

*Winner of the Poet Laureate Award Nomination from UCLA and Cal

*Winner of Reader Views 2011 Reviewers Choice Award for Poetry Book of the Year

*Winner of the 2011 Bookhitch Award for the Most Innovative Poetry Book of the Year

*Selected by Powell Library for its month-long WORDS... exibit.

"The Brubury Tales [by Frank Mundo] is a landmark book, in what is going to be -- and already is -- an exceptional, distinguished literary career." - Carolyn See, book reviewer for The Washington Post and bestselling author of Handyman.

5 Stars: "A fine collection and not one to be missed" - Midwest Book Reviews

5 Stars: "Poetry, for the modern poetry reader, can teeter on tedious and sing-songy, sometimes disengaging the reader from the subject, but this is not the case here. [Mundo's] skill is astounding and has a natural cadence. These stories are intriguing and compellingly human, and soon enough the reading becomes listening. --Sacramento Book Reviews

5 stars: "Brubury Tales" is a brilliant blend of writing, combining the style of Chaucer while putting a new slant on the short stories of the classical writers. - Richard Blake for Reader Views

5 stars: Frank Mundo has taken the format of the classic Canterbury Tales and propelled it into modern times. The more I got into the rhythm of Frank's brilliantly written poetry, the more I enjoyed it and felt compelled to keep reading." Morgan St. James, author of Seven Deadly Samovars

5 stars: "I finished the book in one sitting...The Brubury Tales is by far the most creative book I've read in years! - Shelly Rachanow, author of What Would You Do If You Ran The World?

5 stars: "The Brubury Tales is a unique and powerful new book...Frank takes risks with his writing, which is sensitive, thoughtful, and gritty. Frank Mundo's security guards share their suspicions, and they show us their raw and innermost feelings. They also leave us with a sense of hope. - Laura Frazin Steele, LA Books Examiner